Cigar City

Cigar City

Dateline:

Cigar City! Sounds like a smelly place, right? It all depends on your tastes and that includes your sense of smell. Many people genuinely like the odor of cigars wafting in the air and that is what helped put Tampa on the map as "Cigar City" within just a couple of years of the industry's beginning here.

Don Vicente Martinez Ybor had gotten disatisfied with the political and economic environment in Havana, Cuba. He located a suitable plot of swampy land near the waterfront in Tampa in 1886.

This three-story structure on the left, built by Ybor for his factory, is now the oldest brick building in Tampa. His first cigar from Tampa was El Principe de Gales (Prince of Wales), which had long been his premium cigar label dating from his earliest forays in the cigar industry in Cuba. The brick building appears to be what is now called the Stemmery Building complete with cupola on top. The factory building and a smaller warehouse building all occupy one city block at 9th Avenue and Avenida Republica de Cuba (14th Street). This photo appears to be taken from about today's La Septima (7th Avenue) and about 15th Street.

Soon other manufacturers followed, among them Corral y Wodiska, Corral y Wodiska Bering label which began producing their fine cigar, Bering Red Label Fantasias. This cigar brand was produced among the more than "200 factories producing 700,000,000 hand-rolled cigars a year", according to a brochure issued by the Tampa Board of Trade in 1916. The Board of Trade is the forerunner of the modern Chamber of Commerce.

Then, as now, cigars are made all over the world. Tobacco is grown in different soils, cured with differing processes and rolled in a variety of techniques. Each method results in a particular taste and character. The cigars still being rolled in Ybor City offer a large variety for the discriminating connossieur.

A few links to help in your search for the perfect smoke are these:

(JLB Note: Any links listed in this story are probably no longer live, after over ten years from the original posting.)

http://www.sicomnet.com/generalscigarlinkspage.html
The General's cigar links, many to choose from.
http://www.cigarfamily.com/
Corona, Short Story, Opus X, or whichever Fuente is your favorite.

Copyright © 1999, John L. Bailey
Factory Building historical photo courtesy University of South Florida Library Burgert Brothers Special Collections
Corral y Wodiska cigar box from private collection of John L. Bailey

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Bailey has considerable historical knowledge of Tampa and is available for walking tours, guided tours via automobile, etc. Please contact Bailey for more information .